The Candyman (1992) follows a graduate student named Helen Lyle who’s conducting a study to find the truth behind the urban legend of the Candyman – a vengeful spirit on a killing spree.
Featuring Virginia Madsen as Helen Lyle and Tony Todd as the Candyman, The Candyman is a gothic supernatural horror film written and directed by Bernard Rose. The film is centered on the legend of the Candyman who terrorizes the people living in the Cabrini-Green housing project.
The Candyman Ending Explained
Helen Lyle (Virginia Madsen) is a student of semiotics at the University of Illinois Chicago. Along with her friend Bernadette “Bernie” Walsh (Kasi Lemmons), Helen is conducting research about the legend of the Candyman (Tony Todd) – a mysterious man who appears before anyone who looks at the mirror and says his name five times. Everyone Helen talks to tells her that Candyman is real. He uses a hook, which is attached to his stump, to kill his victims.
When Helen comes to know about a recent murder at the Cabrini-Green Homes, which was developed as a housing project, she decides to dig more into the history of the locality. While Helen is curious to know more about the urban legend, she and Bernadette don’t believe that there is any truth to it. They even try calling out his name five times in front of the mirror, but Candyman does not make an appearance.
The next day, Helen takes Bernadette to Cabrini-Green to investigate more about the urban legend. Bernadette warns Helen against the gangs who roam the streets of the locality. But Helen believes they can find out more about the Candyman if they talk to the people of the locality who have been attributing the horrors of their daily lives to the mysterious killer.
Helen and Bernadette head to the derelict apartment of Ruthie Jean where the last known murder by Candyman took place. Just like Helen’s apartment, the apartments in the locality have a hole in the wall where the medicine cabinet is supposed to be in the bathroom. Helen finds out that the locals have started leaving candies at the place for Candyman.
Helen also talks to the neighbor of the victim Ruthie Jean who reveals that she had called 911 the day they heard Ruthie’s scream, but everyone was scared to come out. Ruthie’s neighbor, Anne-Maire (Vanessa Estelle Williams), lived with her infant son. Later that night, Helen meets an expert on Candyman during a dinner who shares the origin of Candyman’s legend.
The legend originated around 1890. Candyman was an African American named Daniel Robitaille born as the son of a slave but had remarkable painting skills. He was hired by a rich white man to paint the portrait of his daughter. When Candyman fell in love with the girl, the father hired hooligans to kill the Candyman. The hired men chased Candyman before cutting off his right hand and smearing him with honey so that the bees would get attracted to him. Candyman eventually died due to the bee stings, and his pyre was burnt on the Cabrini-Green site, according to the legend.
Helen returns to Cabrini-Green alone and talks to Jack, a young boy who shares another incident when Candyman castrated a disabled boy in a public bathroom. When she was investigating the bathroom, Helen is rounded up by a group of men headed by a guy with a hook in his hand. The man attacks Helen, leaving her injured on the floor.
Thanks to Jack, Helen is rescued by the police and manages to identify the man leading the attack. The police, who wouldn’t respond to an attack on a Black lady, locked the entire place down to nab Helen’s attacker. It turns out that Helen’s attacker was a local gang leader, who just wanted to spread fear in the name of the Candyman.
In time, Helen starts recovering from her injuries, and Bernadette brings her the photos that Helen was clicking on the day she was attacked. A jubilant Helen starts walking towards her car while looking at the photos she clicked. To her surprise, she hears somebody taking her name from behind.
When Helen turns around, she sees the Candyman who confronts Helen for questioning his existence and the stories about him. Helen tries to get away in her car but stops when she enters a hypnotic state as if Candyman has taken control over her. Helen conveys her wish to leave while Candyman invites Helen to be her victim.
Upon regaining consciousness, Helen discovers herself in Anne-Marie’s apartment in Cabrini-Green. She is stained with blood and hears Anne-Marie crying. Helen tries to talk to Anne-Marie, but Anne-Marie blames Helen when she doesn’t find Anthony in the apartment and finds only her dog’s decapitated head. Anne-Marie attacks Helen, and Helen retaliates with a meat cleaver that was lying on the floor, injuring Anne-Marie.
The police appear just in time and arrest Helen for attacking Anne-Marie and kidnapping her son. On being questioned, Helen reveals she does not know Anthony’s location. Helen is bailed out by her husband, Trevor (Xander Berkeley).
At home, Helen decides to go through the photographs she had clicked earlier. She notices that Candyman’s reflection was visible in one of the photographs she took, implying that he was behind her all this time. Immediately after, Helen is attacked by the Candyman who asks her to come with him if she wishes Anthony to live.
The Candyman reveals that he was obliged to come as Helen’s investigation was causing disbelief among his congregation. He digs his hook into Helen’s neck, rendering her in a semi-conscious state. At the same time, Bernadette knocks on Helen’s door and sees the Candyman standing on entering the apartment.
Helen was still in the same state when Trevor found her. On waking up, Helen sees the body of Bernadette in the middle of her apartment, which is filled with police officers. Bernadette’s body has been slashed in the middle with a hook.
Found on another crime scene, Helen is again arrested and put in a psychiatric institution where she keeps seeing the Candyman. After spending a month at the institution, Helen is introduced to Dr. Burke (Stanley DeSantis). He informs her that she has been charged with first-degree murder, and he must assess Helen’s ability to stand trial.
The Candyman Ending Explained
Dr. Burke shows Helen videos of her in which she can be seen talking to someone without anybody in the room. Helen firmly states that she is not capable of the things she is blamed for no matter what is inside her. In a bid to reveal the truth, Helen looks at the mirror in the room and chants the Candyman’s name five times.
The Candyman appears and kills Dr. Burke with his hook. He tells Helen that she belongs to him, and tonight, his congregation will witness a miracle. Before leaving, the Candyman opens Helen’s restraints and exits from the window.
In the chaos that’s spread when the alarm goes off, Helen manages to escape the institution’s premises. Helen reaches her apartment to find that Stacey, Trevor’s student from college, has moved into the apartment. After confronting Trevor for cheating on her, Helen goes to Cabrini-Green to rescue Anthony from the clutches of the Candyman.
On finding the Candyman sleeping, she tries to kill him, but the Candyman opens his eyes and invites Helen to join him in death, offering in return the child’s life. The Candyman opens his coat to reveal his rib cage which is filled with honeybees. He embraces Helen in his arms and kisses her, offering her a painful yet exquisite death.
Helen wakes up to find that she is alone as the Candyman has left, taking Anthony with him. Interestingly, Helen finds the mural of the Candyman and her lover on the wall. She notices that the Candyman’s lover looked similar to her. She hears the Candyman’s voice which reveals that Helen was his lover.
Did Helen Save Anthony From The Candyman?
When Helen starts hearing Anthony’s voice, she starts looking for him. She finds Anthony placed amidst a pyre. Helen manages to get her hands on Anthony. However, she’s quickly grabbed by the Candyman. Meanwhile, the people of Cabrini-Green have already gathered, believing that it is the Candyman inside the pyre.
With the Candyman trapping Helen and Anthony inside, the people set the pyre on fire. The Candyman wishes to unite with Helen. But Helen sticks a piece of burning wood inside the Candyman’s chest and releases herself and Anthony from his hands.
Helen successfully rescues Anthony from the fire, sacrificing herself on the way and leaving the Candyman amidst the fire to burn. At Helen’s funeral, all the residents of Cabrini-Green come to pay their respects to the one who helped them get rid of the Candyman. Jack drops the Candyman’s hook, which he found from the burnt pyre, into Helen’s burial pit.
At his apartment, Trevor continues to grieve Helen’s death and unknowingly says Helen’s name five times while looking in the mirror. To his horror, Helen’s spirit appears before Trevor just in the fashion the Candyman’s spirit used to.
Using Candyman’s hook, Helen kills Trevor by cutting him open from the middle. In the end, the Candyman’s mural is replaced by that of Helen at what once used to be the Candyman’s lair. In the mural, Helen can be seen with her hair on fire just similar to her final moments before death.
The Candyman released on October 16, 1992.
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